Moonlight Flower
by dizzyduck5
Summary: Sora believed his beauty was a curse, not a blessing. Countless men would shower him with gifts in an attempt to capture his heart and, most of all, his body. However, there was one gift that always caught the boy's eye: a simple, beautiful, white flower that hadn't bloomed yet. Who is the mysterious sender? And is he after Sora's heart? Or his body? Rater M for yaoi! FLUFF!
1. Chapter 1

So, I was digging around some old files, and I found this really old short story I had to write for my World History class back when I was a sophomore in high school! Looking back on it now, it actually does have some potential, so I decided to rewrite it as a Kingdom Hearts story and share it with all you wonderful, beautiful people! Enjoy!

It's a pretty clichéd and overdone and corny plot, but just consider it a read whenever you're bored!

Also, if you see me refer to Sora as a "she," ignore it! Please!

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The Moonlight Flower

In a tiny village, there lived the son of a pauper whose beauty could draw the eye of any person that passed him, whether they were a man or a woman.

His skin was unbelievably pale with no flaw to be found; his hair was a delicious chocolate brown that refused to be tamed; and his eyes were the main reason that a person's head would turn in his direction.

They were the eyes of an enchantress: a powerful blue that seemed to reflect the sky and challenge the ocean. They would twinkle whenever he stepped into the sunlight, and they would still shine as he stepped into the shadows.

Hundreds of men mistook him for a princess, and they were drawn to his unimaginable beauty like sharks to the scent of blood. The men would offer him gifts of jewelry, long, flowing robes, and exotic animals, but the boy would always reject them all, for it wasn't material objects that he desired, but love, honest and true.

He wanted someone to look past his appearance and for once see that he was not just an object of beauty that others could place on display. The men who discovered that he was actually a man as well hardly faltered in their conquest to claim the boy's body as their own.

Among all the men that visited him, there was one that would always leave the same gift: a simple, small, white flower that hadn't even bloomed yet. Every day, the same type of flower would appear in front of the door of his home.

The boy had no knowledge of who the mysterious sender was, but he always kept the flowers on his windowsill in the sunlight, hoping to see them bloom.

Yet, the pauper's son could not understand why the flowers never bloomed. They would just wither and die, and the boy would become so sad when he was forced to throw them away.

"_Why would you send me such a gift?"_ the boy thought as the dried petals fell between his fingers. _"Are you saying that this is what I will become? So beautiful yet never full? Destined to wither and crumble away in another man's grasp? Why must you be so cruel?"_

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Yeah, I know it's a little short for a first chapter, but give it another update and it'll set the plot rolling! Off to more adventure!


	2. Chapter 2

You may notice a change in the style from here on out. While the prologue was written about three years ago, I've only recently written this part, so it will look a lot different. My writing has changed over the years! I'm really sorry if this disappoints everyone!

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"Soraaaaa!" A voice called from within the house. Sora placed the broom he was using to sweep the front stoop against the door frame and peeked his head into the small house.

"Yes, father?" he called back, knowing that the man must be somewhere in the back, sharpening his carpenter's tools.

Sora and his father lived a very simple life that did not allow much luxury. Despite this, his father never once pressured Sora into accepting the gifts and proposals that were offered to him daily. The man would rather see his son smile than sleep in a goose-feathered bed.

"I need you to make a trip to the bakery. We're out of bread, and if you want your favorite strawberry jam on toast tomorrow morning, I suggest you hurry."

Sora let out a little giggle to that as he grabbed his sack and a little bit of coin. They only had enough money to purchase the cheapest, and often times moldiest, bread available, but neither of them really cared.

As Sora made his way through the streets of his little village, he was greeted with the usual smiles, gestures, and flattering remarks he grew so accustomed to. Sora usually tried to return them as politely as he could, but that often led to confusion and misinterpretation.

When the boy finally reached the baker's shop, the heavenly aroma of baking bread swept pleasantly over his nose. He entered through the front door, making the bells chime as he did so, alerting everyone of his presence.

Sora stood at the end of the line of customers, politely declining all the offers to take someone's place in line. He waited patiently until the customers received their orders and left. Finally, it was his turn.

The boy approached the counter where the baker stood. The baker looked down at him with the same leer that he always gave Sora, making the boy agonizingly uncomfortable. Sora never liked this man. He reminded the boy of someone else.

"I'll have the usual, please," he said, handing over the coin. The baker held out his hand, and when Sora gave him the coin, he wrapped his other hand over Sora's.

"Although nearly impossible, I must say, Sora that you may have grown even more beautiful since the last time you visited." The baker leaned a bit too close to Sora. "How about I give you a fresh loaf of bread in exchange for one small kiss?"

"Thank you for the kind offer, but I will just have the usual, please." Sora tried to gently pull his arm away from the baker's grasp, but the man refused to budge.

As the boy pulled even harder, he started to panic. Just when he was about to cry out, someone in the back of the bakery did it for him.

Both Sora and the baker looked towards the backroom in surprise as a cloud of flour floated past the doorway. The man dropped Sora's arm, which he quickly pulled towards his chest, dropping the coin onto the counter.

"What do you think you're doing, you damn silver-backed ape?" the baker yelled at his apprentice. Sure enough, the silver-haired man himself appeared in the doorway, surrounded by clouds of flour which covered him from head to toe.

"I'm really sorry, Master Ansem. I was trying to get the bag on flour on the top shelf when the ladder somehow decided that my shoes were too ugly for the likes of it, so it threw me off."

"Whatever possessed you to get the bag on the top when there are others all over?! Clean up this mess right now! And you can expect to pay for all that wasted flour!" Ansem the baker then proceeded to stomp off towards the back to get Sora his bread.

The thick tension that was present before was completely decimated by Sora's old, silver-haired friend.

"Thank you Riku," Sora said, still cradling his arm against his chest. Riku suddenly appeared next to Sora, holding and examining the boy's arm.

"He didn't hurt you, right? I have no idea why that old man can't take no for an answer. Remember, if he ever does that again, don't hesitate to call, alright?" Sora felt his heart quicken at Riku's touch, but he quickly shook it off as nothing.

When he looked up to answer his friend, he couldn't stop the wave of giggles that passed through his mouth. Riku's usual silver hair, along with his clothes and apron, had splotches of white all over. His face was almost completely covered in flour.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked as he dropped Sora's arm and mock glared at the boy.

"You look like a ghost!" the brown-haired boy exclaimed in between gasps of air.

Riku huffed before bringing his hands to his head and violently shaking the flour out of his hair.

"Riku! Stop acting like a silver-haired dog! You're turning me into a ghost now!" Sora laughed.

Through the curtain of silver hair, Sora could have sworn he saw relief in the man's sea-green eyes before he turned back towards the backroom.

"Hang on for one second," Riku called, and as promised, he returned one second later and handed over to Sora a piece of bread with brown swirls. "A piece of freshly baked cinnamon bread, made by yours truly! I want you to try the first piece."

"What am I, a guinea pig?" However, Sora was very grateful and happy that Riku always let him be the first to taste his bread. The boy took a bite of the bread and hummed as the delicious, sweet taste wrapped around his tongue and massaged his taste buds.

"Judging by the look of pure ecstasy on your face, I believe my creation was a success," Riku remarked smugly. The comment made Sora blush a nice shade of red as he swallowed the last piece.

The two chatted for about a minute longer before Ansem returned with Sora's moldy bread. The baker barked at Riku to clean up the mess, so he said goodbye to his friend as he returned to work.

Ansem handed the bread over to Sora, making sure to "accidentally" drag his fingers along the boy's knuckles, making him shiver involuntarily.

Quickly bidding farewell, Sora hurried out of the bakery. When he looked back for a few seconds, he could have sworn he saw Riku glare menacingly at his master before returning to work. Sora calmed down a bit, knowing that if Ansem did ever try anything, Riku would be there to protect him.

Just like the time they first met.

The time when Sora realized his beauty was not a blessing, but a curse that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

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So there you have it! Chapter 2! Let me know what you guys think! Also, if you notice any really stupid mistakes I may have made, please point them out so I can correct them as soon as possible! Thank you~!


	3. Chapter 3

Warning! Little ten-year-old Sora gets molested in this chapter! If this bugs you, I suggest pretty much skipping to the end of the chapter. Sorry if it bothers some of you! Hell, it bothered me as I wrote it! I feel like a bad person…

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As Sora exited the bakery, he noticed that the sun was beginning to set, shrouding the sky in a mysterious orange and red mixture that looked as if the sun's anger set fire to the sky. Pressing the bread gently to his chest, Sora began to quickly make his way home before it could become too dark.

Ever since the incident, he's become extremely paranoid and downright terrified of the night.

When Sora was still a child, around the age of ten, maybe eleven, he was already catching the eye of every person he passed by. His beauty was evident, even back then. Unlike now, the young Sora basked in all the attention he received from strangers.

Growing up without a mother and having a father who worked constantly to support his family left Sora was a little attention starved, so he welcomed anything and everything from those who lived in his small village. He believed that because everyone was so kind to him, he had nothing to fear.

However, his appearance and opened attitude towards strangers made Sora a completely defenseless and open target.

One night, he was hurrying home from playing down by the creek because it was completely dark outside, and his father told him if he stayed out past sunset, he wouldn't get any dessert.

As he was running home, he didn't watch where he was going, and little Sora accidentally bumped into a man who was walking the opposite way.

Sora fell down and cried out in surprise and pain since he really hurt his butt. The man he ran into knelt down in front of him.

"Are you alright little boy?" he asked in a gentle voice. Sora looked up at the man with tears in his eyes. Ever the attention seeker, Sora raised his arms up towards the stranger.

"I really hurt my bottom. Can you help me up?" the boy asked. After staring at him for a few seconds, the man reached down and picked up Sora, holding him close.

"You poor thing. I'm sorry for knocking you on your delicate bottom." As he spoke, he started carrying Sora towards one of the narrow spaces between the now empty buildings where the owners threw trash and empty boxes and crates. "I think I should check your bottom, just to make sure it's not bruised or broken."

Sora started growing nervous as the man sat down on one of the crates.

"I-I-I'm okay! I just need to get home!" he said nervously. He didn't know what was happening or what he should do as the stranger laid little Sora over his knees, holding him down with one hand while pulling back his pants with the other.

"Don't worry, little one. I'll take you home as soon as I have a look." Sora started kicking his legs and struggled against the man's grasp.

"No! No! Let go! I wanna go home! I wanna go home! Let go!" He began to cry as he felt the stranger's hand move over his little bottom, pushing roughly and touching places that made little Sora want to throw up. "Please stop! Please! Stop! It feels gross!"

After much struggling, Sora somehow was able to escape the man's grasp. He fell to the ground and quickly sprang to his feet and ran as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far as he tripped over his pants that were still around his ankles. Little Sora found himself lying on his back as the stranger towered over him, smirking down at the poor, helpless child.

Sora began to cry even harder as the man pinned him to the ground and wrapped a large hand around his tiny neck.

"You know, little boy, this isn't my fault. You're the one who decided to seduce me with that enchanting gaze. You act all innocent when you're really a filthy, little whore on the inside who just begs for this."

Sora shook his head, crying louder in hopes that someone would hear him, but it was well past closing time and the streets were completely barren.

"What good will that do you? There's no one around to help you! In fact, I'm probably not the only one who would commit such an act."

Sora's eyes grew wide at the stranger's words. He noticed the boy's bewildered expression and started to laugh an evil and cruel laugh.

"Don't you get it, little boy? I've been watching you for a while, and I've noticed how you act so innocent around others. People only act nice to you because they just want to do this! Because of the way you look at others with those huge, enchanting eyes, they want nothing more than to shower you with gifts. Once you let your guard down, they'll fuck you like the cheap whore you are and then show you off to everyone else and then sell you at the highest bid like you're some kind of priceless work of art."

Little Sora didn't understand what the stranger was talking about. All he wanted was his father and his bed and his nice, safe home. Why wouldn't this man let him go? He just wanted to go home!

Sora closed his eyes tightly, hoping that this was all a bad dream and that he would wake up in his straw bed, trying to scratch his back because the straw was itchy. When he opened his eyes, he was overcome with despair because the only thing he saw was the stranger's face, which was only inches from his own.

"Shhh, don't cry, little boy," he said in a sickeningly sweet voice that made Sora shudder. He reached up with his hands and wiped away some of the boy's tears. "You should be thanking me! I'm introducing you to the reality of the world. Everyone is out to get you because you're too beautiful to be pure! It's your own fault for being so beautiful, so just accept your fate."

Little Sora suddenly felt extremely exhausted. He didn't have the energy to fight off the stranger anymore. With a heart-breaking sob, he squeezed his eyes shut and hoped that it would be over soon.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of an object hitting against another with a heavy _thump_. Sora opened his eyes just in time to see the stranger's eyes roll to the back of his head. His entire body slumped over, and he fell to the ground.

Sora looked up to see the silhouette of another little boy who appeared to be a bit older than Sora. The boy was breathing heavily and was grasping tightly in his hands a large, steel pipe.

"Are you okay, kid?" the boy asked, poking the man's unconscious body with the pipe.

Sora quickly pulled his pants up, curled into a ball, and started sobbing. The reality of what just happened landed heavily on his shoulders.

"Hey, come on! We need to leave before he wakes up!" the older boy urged, yet Sora, paralyzed with fear, refused to move. The boy sighed impatiently and started poking Sora's shoulder until he finally looked up. He was surprised to find the boy gently smiling down at him with his hand extended.

"My name is Riku. What's yours?" he simply asked.

The moon's light shined down upon the two and illuminated Riku's face. His serene yet powerful sea-green eyes gave Sora enough courage to grab the boy's hand.

"S-Sora," he was finally able to answer. Quickly glancing at his still unconscious attacker, he shuddered and turned his attention to Riku. "C-Can I go home, now?"

When the two little boys finally made it to Sora's house, Sora's father was immediately all over the boy. He demanded to know where his son had been this late at night. However, as soon as he noticed how quiet and terrified Sora was, he knew something had happened to his son.

Because Sora was still recovering from his shock, Riku was the one who explained everything to Sora's father. To this day, both boys have never seen a more terrifying sight than this father's bulging veins and completely enraged face.

This stranger made a fatal mistake by attacking this man's son.

Before starting a family and becoming a carpenter, Leon worked as an elite mercenary whose job was to kill more men than a single person could count. Using a few old contacts, Leon was able to hunt that man down and personally repay him for hurting his only son. When he returned, he told Sora that the stranger would never hurt him again.

However, it was too late. The damage was already done.

It took years for Sora to recover from that traumatic event. At first, he refused to talk to anyone, see anyone, touch anyone, or even take a step outside for fear of someone attacking him again. Leon decided to help his son by teaching him how to defend himself with a sword, which Sora soon was able to master.

Although Sora was confident in being able to defend himself against an attacker, he has refused to trust anyone who tried to win his heart. He believed what the stranger had said, that they all just wanted to make Sora into their personal trophy to display to others.

Since that day, the fear left behind by that one man has been ever-present in Sora's heart.

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If you've read any of my previous stories, you could probably guess who molested little Sora…I need to come up with a new bad guy.

I just realized…I am really mean to poor Sora! In every one of my fanfiction, I do nothing but make him suffer! I'm sorry! I don't mean it! I love Sora! I also don't mean to make him so weak all the time!


	4. Chapter 4

Because of how "bad" last chapter was, I'm going to make it up to all of you with not just one…but _two_ sexy scenes in this chapter! They may be short, but they're vivid! Enjoy!

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Despite everything, Sora had to smile at the memory. It was, after all, the day he met Riku, the one person in the world, other than Leon of course, that Sora could trust with his whole heart.

Ever since they met, Riku has always been beside Sora, watching over him and keeping him safe. The silver-haired man could always tell when a suitor became too pushy, and he was never afraid to step in between danger and Sora.

Riku had become Sora's knight in shining armor.

The smile was still present on Sora's face as he opened the door to his home. Seeing Riku and talking to him always would put Sora in a better mood. The brown-haired boy entered the small and surprisingly quiet house and placed the bread on the table. Usually the house would be filled with the sounds of his father working hard on some table or chairs, but now it was silent.

"_Did he leave to deliver something?" _he thought to himself as he made his way toward Leon's workshop in the back of the house.

As he approached the closed door, Sora could hear muffled voices and sounds from the other side. Although he knew that he should allow his father to work in peace, his curiosity got the best of him, and he cracked the door open just a bit and peeked inside.

The brunette's face immediately lit up red at what he saw.

"Le…on…isn't Sora…g-goin-ah!...to be home soon?" the blonde man bent over the table panted between gasps and moans as Leon laid on top of him, kissing and nipping at the back of his neck.

"I sent him to the bakery so he could talk to Riku for a while. They should be talking for another hour," Leon answered as he grabbed the blonde's hips and pulled away from him. "Besides," he muttered with a smirk, "you want to stop now?"

With that said he thrusted hard and fast into the blonde, causing the man to cry out in pleasure as he was driven into the table.

"Cloud, does it feel good when I do this?" Leon angled himself so that he would strike a certain spot that made the blonde throw his head back and beg for more.

Sora finally snapped out of his daze and quickly hurried to his room on the other side of the house, his face still brighter than a tomato.

Now Sora has known about Cloud and his father's relationship for a while. Cloud, like Leon, was an ex-mercenary who worked around the village. He was the one who had helped Leon locate the man who dared to attack his son.

Leon tried to hide his relationship with Cloud from his son because he feared it would invoke a negative reaction and would cause him to relive those memories. He still doesn't know that Sora is completely aware of what has been happening between them for a few years now.

In truth, Sora was happy for his father, who had been alone since the passing of Sora's mother when he was still a baby until Leon and Cloud discovered their love for each other. Although the idea still terrified Sora, he believed that doing that with someone you love is something almost magical and should be cherished, which is what Cloud and Leon do.

The reason that Sora has never addressed this with his father before was because this kind of topic was extremely awkward to bring up.

Shaking the memory of his father having sex from his head, Sora got dressed for bed, crawled under the covers, and went to sleep.

* * *

"_Sora, does it feel good when I do this?"_ the familiar voice asked as he curled the two fingers already inside Sora, making him gasp as they brushed against that one spot.

"_Y-Yes," _he heard himself choke out. _"Again! Please!"_ The voice granted his wish as the fingers rubbed that spot again two more times. _"No!"_ Sora moaned as he felt the fingers withdraw from inside him. _"Don't go!"_

"_Sora,"_ the voice growled his name, causing the boy to shudder against the body above him. Sora struggled to open his eyes, but he just couldn't. He desperately tried to remember who this voice belonged to; it was so familiar.

He could feel the man's breath against his face as he brought his mouth down on top of Sora's. His long hair ghosted against the boy's cheeks as their lips melded together. The man's tongue slid along Sora's mouth, and when he opened it, the tongue dove into the entrance. Their tongues massaged against one another as the man ran his hands up and down Sora's sides, trying to relax him as he pushed his tip into the boy's entrance.

Sora could only moan in pleasure as the man rammed the rest of his length into him. The boy held onto the other's muscular shoulders as he was repeatedly pounded into, making him cry out louder and louder with each thrust.

"_So good! Too good!"_ Sora cried as he was nearing his climax.

"_Say my name!"_ the voice demanded, increasing his speed. Sora's mind was a clouded fog. He knew the voice's name? Who was it? It was so familiar.

"_Say my name!"_ the voice demanded again. _"Say it! Scream it! Make it the only name to ever leave these lips!" _

Sora was so close. He needed to come! Who was this voice? Who was it?

"_Say it!"_ The man gave one final hard thrust that ripped the orgasm out of Sora.

"_RIKU!"_

* * *

Sora's eyes snapped open as the first of the sun's light crept into his room. Sitting up slowly, he tried to shake the dream from his head, but found it difficult to forget when his underclothes were still wet.

"How many nights does this make it?" Sora muttered to himself grimly.

He started having these kinds of dreams a few years ago. The first time he had such a dream was the day he and Riku went exploring near the forest. Sora had tripped and fallen down a steep slope, hurting his leg in the process. After much resisting and protesting, Riku was finally able to convince the boy to let him carry the brunette back home.

Ever since he was ten, Sora had been afraid of another person's touch, but the memory of Riku's strong arms wrapped around him caused the boy to shiver. He had felt so safe, so protected in the arms of his best friend and knight.

However, Sora had no intention of ever revealing his feelings to the silver-haired baker.

"_It's because I'm too dirty,"_ he thought to himself. _"And now I've dirtied Riku, too."_

Somewhere, deep within his heart, he could still hear the stranger's words echo in the empty alley. _"You may look innocent, but really you're a filthy, little whore! You're the one who seduced me! It's all your fault!"_

He was too unclean to be loved by someone as perfect as Riku.

Finally shaking the depressing thoughts from his head, Sora patted his cheeks as he climbed out of his bed. When he stood up, he remembered the whole issue about his underclothes. He quickly pulled them off and hurriedly washed them in the water basin he kept in his room.

As he scrubbed away the evidence, he thought about something. Sora was still a virgin (the stranger never had the chance to get that far) yet he was able to have such detailed dreams? He blamed his father and Cloud; they were bad influences.

Speak of the devil, Sora nearly jumped out of his skin when his father opened the door. Quickly shoving his underclothes behind his back, he gave the man a bright and innocent smile.

"Good morning, father!" he chirped happily, causing the carpenter to raise an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Good morning, Sora," he replied. "You're happier than usual this morning, which is saying a whole lot." The boy only shrugged in reply. "When did you come home last night? I never heard you come in, and when I went to check on you, you were already in bed."

"I was talking to Riku for a long time, but I made sure to get home before the sunset. I thought you were too caught up in your work since it was quiet, so I just went to sleep." Leon coughed uncomfortably at that and motioned his son to continue getting dressed.

"Well hurry up. Cloud came over for breakfast, and if you don't hurry, he'll eat all of your favorite jam."

Sora nodded his head and waited for his father to close the door before quickly finishing up his dirty work. Once the evidence was completely washed away, he quickly stashed them under his bed, hoping that they'll eventually dry on their own time.

Making his way into the kitchen, he greeted the blonde man – who most likely had stayed over from the previous night – and sat down in his custom designed chair, which was personally crafted by his father.

"Good morning, Sora," Cloud greeted him. "Did you have any good dreams?"

The boy's face immediately turned red as images of last night's adventurous dream filled him mind. He quickly shooed them away before either of the men could notice.

"Not particularly," he responded as normally as he could. "Did you have a nice night, Cloud?" The blonde gave the same uncomfortable cough Sora's father made just a few minutes ago.

"Not particularly," he countered with a smile.

"Sora, did you make sure to bring in the broom when you were done with it last night," Leon asked as he placed Sora's breakfast in front of him, clearly trying to change the subject. Sora's eyes grew wide, and when Leon noticed, he gave his son a pointed glare. With a sheepish smile, Sora got up from his chair and went to check to see if the broom was still there.

"I don't think anyone would steal it," he called back to his father as he opened the door. Relieved, he found the broom still right where he had left it the night before and grabbed it.

Before he closed the door, Sora looked down, and he was greeted by a single white flower, lying quietly on the stone step.

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Teehee! A little snippet of Leon/Cloud! Couldn't resist! And no, Leon did not just get rid of Sora for sex! Cloud really did randomly come over while Sora was out. I promise there will be more scenes, but you'll have to wait for a little bit longer!


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the late upload, guys! I'm currently on spring break and time just flies by!

In case anyone was wondering, Sora should be around 19-20 years old, and Riku should be around 21-23 years old. I felt like making them a little bit older for this story! I just call Sora "boy" to distinguish him from Riku since I call him "man" even though they're considered both to be men.

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Sora laid on the table, slumped over as he studied the flower, twirling the green stem between his fingers in front of him.

"_So you've given me another one?"_ he thought. _"Will it end up the same way? Will I be forced to watch as this one slowly withers and dies before it had a chance to open its petals?"_ He rested his head on his arm and sighed, still looking at the white flower.

"_Is this flower just like every other gift, meaningless and without feeling? A tool to make me fall into your arms? Or are you trying to say that I will end up like this? Wrapped in a tiny ball, never having the chance to open my heart to the one I love?"_

With those words, an image of Riku flashed in front of the brunette's eyes. He could clearly see his friend covered with splotches of flour, making his hair turn a pasty white instead of its usual beautiful silver shine. He could clearly see the man's smile which always made Sora's heart beat twice as fast. He could clearly see the love that he could never come to possess.

Before he could depress himself more, a hand reached over and snatched the flower from his grasp. Startled, Sora jerked his head to the side to watch as Cloud examined it.

"I don't see why you're getting so hyped up over such a tiny thing," he asked, glancing toward the boy for an answer.

"It's just that I've received the same gift over and over again. There has to be some meaning to it!"

"How long has this been going on?"

"About five or six years."

"And you haven't learned who it's from? Have you even looked into it?"

"I don't even know where to begin! And…to tell the truth…I'm a little afraid to find out who's been sending me these flowers." Cloud looked up with a worried expression.

"Why? Has someone been harassing you? Is anyone making you uncomfortable? Did this person hurt you?" The once worried expression slowly turned to an angry one with each word he spoke.

Over the years, ever since the incident, Cloud somehow had grown to be a part of Sora's family. He came to care for Sora, and like Leon, grew to be extremely overprotective of the boy. Sora, in turn, treated Cloud like an older brother, or in a couple of times, a second father.

When Sora first discovered what Cloud and his father were doing behind closed doors, he felt betrayed and disgusted that they would actually do something as filthy as that. For a long time, he refused to speak to either of them. However, after a while, he started to observe the way the two interacted with each other.

Sora saw how the two would sometimes just stare at each other quietly with a simple smile on their lips. They would share a quick kiss when they thought they were alone, completely unaware of a pair of blue eyes studying them. Leon liked to tug a few strands of Cloud's spikey hair to get his attention. Whenever Cloud was annoyed at Leon, he poked the brunette in between his eyes in the middle of his scar.

As Sora watched them, he slowly came to realize these simple little acts were just ways they showed how much they loved each other. Before this, Sora believed that people only wanted sex so they could completely conquer a person and leave their mark upon them, making them completely helpless and obedient to the conqueror's will. Sex was a way of turning someone into your own private trophy.

As Sora thought about it, he realized that when those two did that sort of thing, when those two had sex, it was to show the one they cared about the most that they were willing to give them everything, heart and body together.

Finally, after a long while, Sora was able to forgive his father and Cloud.

"_Now that I think back on it," _the boy thought to himself. _"There was nothing to forgive them for. Nothing they did was ever wrong. They…were simply in love."_

"Sora!" The boy was snapped from daydreaming about the past back into the present. He looked up and remembered that he should probably calm down a certain raging blonde who was about to go on a murdering spree.

"No, nothing's wrong, Cloud!" The ex-mercenary seemed to relax only a little.

"Then what's bothering you?" Sora picked up the flower again and brought it close to his face.

"I'm just afraid of what it's supposed to mean. It can't just be a simple gift. There has to be a meaning behind it. I'm too scared to find out what that meaning is."

"Let me see it again," Cloud said. Sora handed him the delicate flower, and the man examined it more closely this time. "You know, I think I know where this flower grows." Sora's eyes grew wide, and he stared at him in anticipation. "I remember seeing them growing near the stream, the one with that old bridge, just outside of the village."

Before saying anything else, the blue-eyed boy jumped out of his chair and ran towards the door.

"Sora, wait!" Cloud called after him.

"Tell father I'll be home before dinner!" he shouted over his shoulder as he raced down the street towards the edge of the village.

Sora had no idea why he was going there in the first place. Would he even be able to see who the mysterious messenger was? And then what? Would it even matter if he knew?

Still, the boy's legs refused to stop as they ran further and further. It wasn't until he finally realized where he was that he came to a sudden halt. Glancing around, he began to recognize the old buildings that seemed to tower over him.

"_That's right,"_ the boy thought to himself miserably. _"I was running home from the creak that day. It was around here that…that…"_ Sora shook his spiky head as he tried not to remember. _"Nothing's going to happen…Nothing! It's daytime, the sun's still out, and there are people around…Nothing is going to happen to me!"_ Still, the shaking refused to stop.

Sora squeezed his eyes shut as he took a shaky step forward. And then another one. He continued this somewhat mechanical motion until he was in a blind run, desperate to get away from this place. With his eyes closed, the boy failed to see the man standing in front of him, and he crashed right into him.

As he fell, Sora let out a high pitched shriek, which only increased in volume when he felt the man wrap an arm around the brunette's waist to prevent his fall. He struggled against the person in a blind panic, desperate to escape his grasp.

"Sora!" The voice felt like a wave that crashed through the boy. "Are you alright? It's me! I'm not going to hurt you!" All the panic and fear and pain he felt just miraculously vanished as he relaxed in the arms of the man. When he finally opened his eyes, he couldn't stop his lips from forming a silly smile as he stared into sea-green eyes.

"Hi, Riku!" he said cheerfully despite being an emotional wreck not a minute ago.

"Sora," the silver haired man replied; his voice was low and had a warning tone. "Care to explain why you are all the way over here without your father or Cloud escorting you? It's pretty damn obvious that you're not prepared to travel down here, so what were you even thinking?" As he scolded Sora, he unwrapped his arms and carefully steadied him on the ground. As Riku completely withdrew from him, Sora couldn't help but feel empty and cold, despite the warm sun beating down upon them.

"I wanted to head to the creak. You know, the one outside the village?" Riku looked at him, confused.

"What on Earth compelled you to go visit that old place?"

Over the years, Sora had debated on whether he should tell his best friend about the flowers he's been receiving. For some reason, there was something inside Sora that stopped him from ever bringing them up. Every time he thought about mentioning them to Riku, Sora would suddenly become afraid of the silverette's reaction. He could not explain it, but Sora was too afraid to tell Riku about the flowers.

"Cloud reminded me about it today, and I really wanted to visit it again. I used to go there all the time as a child, and I wanted to see if anything has changed." It felt wrong to lie to one of the few men Sora trusted, but he felt that he had no choice. Riku looked at him skeptically for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"Still, you should've told me! I'll come with you." The man then turned around and started walking toward the destination.

"Wait, Riku!" Sora protested as he quickly fell into step beside the other. "What about the bakery? Come to think of it, shouldn't you be working right now? Did you ditch again?" Riku playfully pushed Sora's head down and ruffled his spikes.

"What kind of bum do you take me for? The bakery's temporarily closed right now," he explained. "Ansem had to run an errand, and he sent me off on a delivery. I just finished and was heading back until I saw you."

"But shouldn't you get back as soon as possible?"

"Everyone can bear a few more hours without muffins! Besides, we're almost there."

It was true since the two of them were almost completely out of the village. The creak, which further down opened up as a wide stream, came into view.

Sora and Riku walked side by side down the edge of the creak in a comfortable silence. Every now and then, Sora would steal of glance at Riku, who was busy struggling to untie the string that held his hair up. He always had to wear his hair like that whenever he worked, for obvious reasons. Once he was determined to cut it all off, but ultimately decided not to after being forced to listen to Sora's endless protests.

Riku let out a sigh of relief as he finally untangled his hair from the string and allowed the silver locks to freely cascade down his shoulders. Instinctively, Sora reached out and dragged his fingers through the soft, smooth, silver hair, an act that didn't go unnoticed. Sora looked up and was startled to find the other man staring down at him. The boy tried to come up with an excuse for touching his friend's hair. Thinking quickly, he pulled on the lock of hair and laughed.

"Your hair is too weird to be natural! Did you dip your head in paint when you were a child?" Of course, Sora didn't believe for one second that the baker's hair was weird. In fact, the brown haired boy loved his friend's hair. It matched his appearance, made his sea-green eyes sparkle, and made him look even more like a knight or even a prince. Riku retaliated by pulling at the brown spikes in front of him.

"Looks who's talking, porcupine! When I look at your hair, I feel that if I touch it, I'll prick my finger on your pointy spikes." Sora laughed for real this time and struggled to push the bigger man away from him. Though he had to keep his feelings locked away, Sora knew that being with Riku like this, laughing and playing, was all he needed.

As they continued to playfully shove each other and pull each other's hair, laughing the whole time, they finally approached their destination of the old, wooden bridge that hovered over the stream.

When Sora looked up, his laughter died in his throat. The first thing he noticed was the number of white buds that floated gently on the water's surface, surrounding the bridge.

The second thing he noticed was the man standing on the bridge, scooping the flowers into the palm of his hand. He brought them close to his face for a few seconds before gently placing them into a satchel he wore.

Sora stood there in silence as the man walked off the bridge back toward the village, never noticing either of the two.

"So that's what Ansem's big, important errand was about," Riku muttered to himself. "Still, I don't see why he had to abandon the whole store just to collect a bunch of useless flowers." The man glanced down at his friend. "Sora? What's wrong?"

Sora refused to say anything. He felt that if he opened his mouth, the only thing to come out would be a chocked sob. Sora refused to move, to even breathe. He felt that if he moved even the smallest of his fingers, his entire body would collapse. Sora refused to blink. He felt that if he closed his eyes, he would never be able to stop the tears.

Riku moved to stand in front of his friend. Carefully, he placed his finger under Sora's chin and brought his face up.

"Sora," he whispered, gently, which seemed to be the one thing that finally broke the boy's restraint. Sora couldn't stop himself as he let out a brokenhearted sob and smashed himself against the silver-haired man's chest with tears freely flowing from his eyes. Riku didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around his friend and comfort him, despite having no idea why Sora was crying in the first place.

"_Is he crying because of Ansem?"_ Riku asked himself as he gently ran his hand through brown spikes._ "Did that son of a bitch do something to him? I swear I'll kill him if he touched Sora!"_

However, Ansem was only part of the reason Sora was crying. In truth, Sora just realized why he never wanted to tell his friend about the flowers. He realized what exactly he was afraid of that stopped him from telling the baker.

Secretly, deep within his heart, Sora vainly believed that those flowers were a sign of love from Riku.

* * *

I'm so sorry for torturing you like this, Sora! I don't mean it, I swear! Of course Sora's going to get a happy ending; he just needs to hang on for just a little bit longer!


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter for everybody! Glad I surprised all of you in the last chapter! But it's not the end of the story yet! Keep cheering Sora on!

* * *

"Sora, it's alright. Everything's alright," Riku whispered, trying to comfort the boy in his arms. Eventually, Sora's cries slowly faded into quiet whimpers until he finally peeled himself off the silver haired man. Keeping him within arm's reach, Riku pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed away the rest of Sora's tears.

"Now," Riku said after a period of silence. "Are you going to tell me what that was all about?" He couldn't keep angry tone out of his voice. "Is it Ansem? Has he done anything? Did he hurt you? You have to tell me, Sora!"

Sora's thoughts were racing in his head. An internal debate was taking place in his heart. Should he finally tell Riku his feelings, or should he continue to ignore them for the rest of his life? How would Riku react? Would he run away? Would he ignore Sora? What should he do?

"Sora, you can tell me anything," Riku said in a much gentler voice. "I'll do whatever it takes to make you feel better!"

"What…do you think of me, Riku?" Sora asked when he finally gathered enough courage, looking directly into sea-green eyes. Those eyes blinked in surprise at the question. He looked as if he was struggling to come up with an answer, which made Sora's heart pound even harder.

"Sora," he said in a soft voice, gently placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You mean more to me than anyone else in the world. I want to always be here to protect you and watch over you."

Sora's heartbeat increased as he listened to the baker. Hope flickered within his heart like a fire on a candle wick, burning on the last of the wax.

"Riku, I –"  
"And when you finally find the right person who will truly love you," Riku continued, not hearing Sora's small whisper, "know that I will still be here at your side, supporting you all the way. Because you are my best friend."

Riku's words formed a gust of wind that blew out the candle, leaving Sora's heart dark and cold. The boy's face crumbled, but in a split second, a wide smile formed on his lips.

"Thank you, Riku," Sora said in a calm and happy voice. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that!"

Of course that was a lie.

Deep within, Sora was crying. He was crying and screaming and kicking and raging. But he didn't want to worry his friend anymore, so he would have to wait until he got home.

"Sora, are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course I am!"  
Lies.

"Then why were you crying not even five minutes ago?"

"Oh, it was because I suddenly remembered how much fun I had over here when I was little. Then I remembered why I could never come here again, and I just broke down."  
All lies.

"Was that all? Are you sure?"

"Riku, hearing you say that you'll always protect me made everything better."

Why couldn't Sora stop lying?

"Alright, but now we're going home right now." Riku placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and guided him away from the bridge and the flower buds floating in the water.

The walk back to Sora's home was silent. Sora didn't feel like talking anyway. All he wanted to do was go home, crawl into his bed, and never see a white flower bud for the rest of his life!

Once they reached Sora's small house, he looked up to meet sea-green eyes that were still full of worry. Someday, Sora needed to teach his heart not to race whenever he looked into them.

"Sora, are you absolutely sure you're alright?" Riku asked, his voice so full of concern that it made Sora smile, despite the heaviness in his heart.

"Riku! How many times do I have to tell you? I'm alright!" Sora mustered up the best fake laugh he could manage. "You worry way too much, you know that?"

"Only when it concerns you," the silver-haired man muttered so quietly that Sora could barely hear him even though he was standing only a foot away.

Suddenly, they both heard someone angrily stomping their way towards them. A second later, the door was pulled open to reveal a very red-faced Leon. He glared down at Sora and Riku which made the younger men shrink back in fear.

"Care to explain where you've been?" Leon asked, crossing his arms across his chest as he stood in the doorway.

"Didn't Cloud tell you? I went to visit that stream with the old bridge outside of town. I said I would be home before dinner," Sora explained, his voice trembling in fear. Though never violent towards his son, when Leon got angry, it usually involved yelling, lecturing, and a good amount of punishment.

"You told Cloud. You did not tell _me_! Why did you go to that damn stream again? Didn't I say never to go there alone ever again?!" Both young men could practically see the steam coming out of the carpenter's ears. Panicking, Sora grabbed Riku's arm and pulled him close.

"That's why I went with Riku! The bakery was closed today, so I talked him into coming with me! We walked there together, spent some time looking at the water and talking, and we started heading back as soon as the sun was starting to set!"

"And nothing happened? Nothing at all?"

"None at all, father!"

"No panic attacks? You didn't encounter anyone dangerous or suspicious? You just went straight there and straight back?"

"No attacks, no encounters, and we went straight there and back!" The brown haired man turned towards Riku, who Sora could feel stiffen.

"Riku? Is this true?" Sora shot a pleading glance at Riku, who immediately played along.

"Yes, sir! Sora stopped by the bakery as I was closing up because Master Ansem had an errand to run and didn't want me running it by myself. He asked me to accompany him to the stream. We went there, played around a little, and now I've brought him home safe and sound."

Leon continued to stare at the two in silence. He trusted Riku and knew he would do everything to protect Sora, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"Come now, Leon," Cloud said as he appeared in the doorway and placed a hand on his lover's shoulder. "They look like they're ready to run off screaming! Sora's back safe and sound, and nothing happened, so you can let this slide for once, right?"

After a few more seconds, Leon finally let out a sigh and relaxed his stance, no longer glaring at the two young men.

"I guess you're right. He did take Riku with him, and he did make it back before dinner," he mumbled to Cloud before turning back to Sora. "But if you do this again, you'll never have strawberry jelly again, am I clear?" Sora nodded his head vigorously as Riku chuckled. "Alright, get inside before you catch a cold. Riku, are you staying for dinner?" The silver-haired man usually spent his evenings with Sora and his father. Over the past ten years, he's become another member of the family, like Cloud.

"Thank you, but I can't tonight, sir. Master Ansem should be back from his errand by now, so I need to get back to work."

With that, Riku said goodnight to Sora, Leon, and Cloud. Sora gazed at his friend's back for a few more seconds before going inside and closing the door.

* * *

Sorry that it's pretty short and ... boring, but next chapter will be good, promise!


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the late update everyone! Writer's block and all...I kind of stray away from the main storyline in this chapter, so just bear with me please!

This chapter focuses mainly on Cloud and Leon's relationship…which I had NO intention of doing…but anyway, I kind of jump around in this chapter, so it might be easy to get lost. Sorry about it! This was actually all put in last minute. And I think it's a pretty unnecessary chapter too. Oh well.

I actually divided this chapter into two parts because I was sorta stuck on the story and it's been a long time since I last updated. Sorry about that.

* * *

After a fitful and restless night, Sora groggily opened his eyes only to shut them tight against the harsh rays of sun. Grumbling, he pulled his blanket over his head, wishing he could simply sink into his bed and never emerge again.

Finally convincing himself that living as a hermit in his own bed wasn't an ideal plan, he crawled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen where his father was making breakfast. Cloud left for home last night after the three had dinner together.

"Good morning, Sora," Leon called to his son as the boy sat down at the table, waiting for his breakfast to be served.

"Morning," he grumbled back, laying his head onto his hands. Leon looked down at him with a confused look. Usually Sora was a morning person, always happy and energetic every morning. Leon remembered when Sora was little he would be running around and playing at the crack of dawn until he finally collapsed in the evening. The man could have sworn that his son was powered by the sun itself.

"I checked outside this morning, and it seems that there wasn't a flower for you today."

"Great," he mumbled sleepily. This wasn't really surprising, though. It's not like Sora received a flower every single day. It was usually a couple times a week, every two weeks, or even once a month. There was no real pattern to them.

"Are you alright? You don't seem like yourself," Leon said, placing a hand on the boy's forehead to check if he had a fever. Sora shook his head, pushing the older man's hand away.

"Just tired from all that walking yesterday," the brown-haired boy replied with a big yawn.

Of course that wasn't the real reason Sora felt like he was half-dead. He had just discovered that his secret admirer, the one who kept sending him the white flower buds, was none other than the creepy baker that always looked at Sora with hungry eyes. Sora hated that man's eyes…they reminded him of a certain stranger's eyes that glowed in the dark alley as they stared at poor little Sora's helpless form.

Sora squeezed his eyes shut, placed his hands on each side of his head, and tried to shake that memory from his head.

Leon noticed his boy's actions. He quickly finished preparing Sora's favorite breakfast and placed it in front of him before taking his seat across the table. He watched as the boy played around with his food before taking small bites.

"Alright. What's wrong?" Leon asked after a few minutes of silence. Sora raised his head and was about to reply with the usual "nothing," but he was pinned down by his father's stare.

"Sora, I'm your father. You know I have those really special father senses that can tell me when something is wrong, remember? You can tell me, alright? Nothing you say could ever make me stop loving you."

Sora stared at that man for a few quiet minutes, silently debating on whether he should finally confess to his father or remain silent like he always has.

"Father, how did you know you were in love with Cloud?" Sora finally asked. The older man's face suddenly turned a very bright shade of red as his eyes popped out of his head and his mouth opened wide.

"W-Wait…how did you…when did…how long…when…" he stuttered uncharacteristically.

"I've known for a few years now," Sora answered, a warm and understanding smile appearing on his lips. Leon was able to regain some composure, and he leaned forward over the table and looked directly into Sora's eyes.

"Sora, I want you to listen to me very closely. I love your mother. Rinoa was the most beautiful woman to have ever graced the world with her presence." Leon began to relax, and his gaze softened as he continued to talk about Sora's mother. "When she left us, I prayed to her every day for guidance. Every day I would thank her for the beautiful bundle of happiness she left behind for me. Now Sora, you got your hair and eyes from me. But your nose, your fingers, your mouth, your smile, your laugh, your beauty, your gracefulness, your determination, your strong-headedness…every time I look at you I'm reminded of her."

Sora leaned back into his chair and smiled. His father would often tell him stories of his mother – how the two met when Leon was still a mercenary, how Rinoa convinced him to quit, how they were married in a field of flowers – when he was little, right before bed. As he slept, Sora would dream of being held by a beautiful woman with long brown hair and a warm smile. He felt loved and safe within those arms. Even when he woke up, he could still feel the warmth of her love.

Sora was snapped out of his memory when Leon slammed his fist onto the table's surface, his eyes red and his shoulders tense all of a sudden.

"On that day ten years ago," he growled, his voice twisted with bitter anger, "when you were brought home with your clothes ripped, when you were crying because you were completely terrified, when I held your fragile, tiny, trembling body in my arms as you were sobbing and struggling to tell me what happened, when I found out what that goddamn son of a bitch did to you…all I could think about was tearing the bastard's throat out and strangling him with it as he choked on his own guts. I felt like I had betrayed Rinoa; I failed to protect the precious gift she gave me."

Leon took a deep breath and then started to calm himself down. Sora still remained quiet, but he silently urged his father to continue his story. The older man shook his head slightly and ran his hand through his spiky brown hair.

"I needed to find that fucker before he could leave the village. That's when I remembered a certain man I was partnered up with a few times when I was a mercenary. He was the kind of guy who knew exactly where to look when it came to finding scum. We worked together really well…saved his life once on a mission…kept in touch with him after I had quit the mercenary business…even invited him to the wedding! We hadn't talked much since the wedding, but I figured that he would be willing to help me for old times' sake. I was able to get a hold of him only a day after the incident. After I sent word to him and explained what had happened to you, he immediately agreed to help me find the bastard. But…when I saw him again after all those years…I…It felt different."

As Leon talked, Sora glanced up to see that a certain spiky blonde haired ex-mercenary had silently let himself into their house and was now standing a few feet behind Sora's father, casually leaning against the wall and listening intently to every word Leon said with an unreadable expression on his face. Sora quickly shifted his gaze back to his father, hoping that the brown haired man hadn't noticed. He figured since Cloud hadn't announced his presence, neither should Sora.

"When Rinoa passed away, my heart had turned into a frozen block of ice," Leon continued, remaining unaware of his lover who was staring into the back of his head. "Sora, you were the only one who could make me smile or laugh or feel anything at all! To everyone else, I was a stone cold man with absolutely no emotion. But…when I saw Cloud again, for the first time since my wedding to Rinoa, I experienced something I hadn't felt for years. I felt my heart push warm blood through my veins. That warmth I felt confused the cold hearted me, so I chose to ignore it, no matter how nice it felt. However, when he I heard his voice again, the warmth that I had felt in my chest slowly began to grow throughout my body. Even as we discussed my…'personal mission,' I couldn't draw my gaze away from his crystal blue eyes.

"Confused as I was, I had to remain focused. With Cloud's help, I was able to hunt down that child-molesting son of a bitch and make him pay for laying a single finger on you. However, as I stood above his body that lay on the ground and was slowly growing cold, I knew that what he had done to you could never be erased. I knew that because I failed to protect my own son, you were going to be forced to suffer from his actions for many, many years. That very thought made me feel so helpless that I collapsed onto my knees. I kept begging and pleading to Rinoa for help, for anything. And when I looked up, all I could see was a pair of beautiful blue eyes full of concern staring back into mine. There stood Cloud, right there before me, willing to offer anything and everything to help me and you. He asked to see you, so I took him home with me and introduced him to you. Of course, you reacted negatively to him; you refused to come out of your room for days whenever he came by."

The brown haired boy nodded his head. He remembered when he had first met Cloud. It was only a few days after the incident, so he was a horrible nervous wreck that refused to go outside or even leave his room. The only people he ever wanted to see were his father and Riku. However, Cloud would come by their house almost every single day. He would knock on Sora's door and ask through the wood if the boy was alright. Sora usual responded with a very rude "Leave me alone!" but the blonde never failed to stop by the house and ask him the same question.

One day, Leon had to deliver a chair to a client, so he had asked Cloud to watch Sora while he was gone, which wouldn't have been so hard since the boy never left his room. But at that time, Sora really had to use the bathroom, which was located on the other side of the house, which meant he would have to walk past Cloud. Soon his bladder won the battle against his anxiety, so he quietly opened the door and attempted to tip-toe his way to the bathroom past Cloud. However, the blonde haired man spotted him right away.

"Sora, are you alright?" he called as he approached the boy. Without any hesitation, Sora made a mad dash towards the bathroom, diving inside and slamming the door shut before the ex-mercenary even knew what happened.

Once Sora finished up his business, he was prepared to make another dash towards the safe haven of his bedroom. However, his dash was interrupted when he tripped and fell to the ground, his leg effectively landing on one of his father's nails. Crying out in pain, he could feel something warm and wet cover his leg.

"What happened? Did you fall? Can you stand? Where does it hurt?" Cloud questioned as he hurried toward Sora. The boy became extremely afraid as the man came closer to him. With tears of pain rolling down his cheeks, Sora threw his arms out blindly, trying to push Cloud away from him.

"NO! Get away from me! Leave me alone! Get away! Get away!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He tried to get up to run away, but as soon as he put pressure on his injured leg, he fell straight back onto the ground. After trying a few more times, Sora gave up. He curled into a helpless ball and started crying from both the pain and the fear of what Cloud would do to him.

After a few quick beats of silence, Sora felt something hard nudge against his arm.

"Sora," Cloud called softly, and he felt that thing nudge against him a few more times. Annoyed, Sora looked up to see that the thing was the end of the broom they kept in the house. Cloud was holding the other end of the broom and was gently tapping Sora's arm with it.

"Sora, I need you to grab the broom really tightly with both hands, okay?" Sora gave Cloud a confused and skeptical look. "We need to clean that cut on your leg. Don't worry, I won't touch you at all. The broom will do all the work, alright?"

"No!" Sora exclaimed stubbornly, pushing the broom away from him. Cloud let out a big sigh and shook his head.

"You know, Sora, what will happen to your leg if we don't clean it up? Even as we speak, hundreds of these itty bitty little creatures called germs are crawling into your leg. They're going to make your leg completely blue, and it'll be so heavy that you won't even be able to lift it. When that happens, your father is going to have to take one of his saws and cut your entire leg off. If he doesn't do that, then the germs will spread to your other leg, then your stomach, then your arms, then your head until your entire body is too heavy to move! Do you want that to happen?"

Sora, whose usual tan skin has turned considerably pale, vigorously shook his head. When Cloud moved the broom toward Sora again, he finally grabbed the end. With a small grunt, the blonde haired man was able to lift the boy off the ground and carry him to the kitchen table where he gently set him down. Cloud took a minute to look closely at the leg for the nail, but it didn't appear to be stuck in there, much to his relief. He grabbed a cloth, wet it with warm water, stuck it on the broom, and then handed it to Sora.

"Wipe off your leg with this and then squeeze it over your cut while I try to find bandages." Cloud began to open several different cabinets, grumbling when he couldn't find any.

"They're in the last one," Sora muttered quietly.

"That man is extremely disorganized," Cloud said as he grabbed the bandages, placed them on the broom, and handed them to Sora. "Wrap these around your leg tightly, though I'll have to tie the wrappings up when you're done."

Sora did as he was told, and when he was finished, the blonde very slowly reached for his leg. Sora watched him very cautiously but allowed the man to tie the wrappings together. Once he was finished, Cloud took a few steps back from the boy.

"Do you want me to help you get down?" he asked to which the boy reluctantly nodded. He squeezed his eyes shut as the man picked him up and gently placed him back on the ground. He then felt a hand pat the top of his spikes very lightly.

"You did a really good job, Sora," Cloud said with a soft smile. "Thank you for being a very brave boy." Sora looked up at the man with wide blue eyes for a few seconds before limping as quickly as he could back to his room. Although, instead of his usual slamming of the door, he gently closed it all the while peeking back at the blonde who helped him.

Overtime, Sora gradually grew closer to Cloud and eventually came to trust the man as much as he did his father or Riku.

Sora remembered when he asked Riku for his opinion of Cloud. The boy's response was that Cloud's hair made him look like a bird but that was okay because birds were cool because they could fly so that meant that Cloud was cool since he looked like a bird even though he couldn't actually fly. Sora couldn't suppress the little giggle that escaped him, quickly covering it up with a cough and smiling at his father and the man behind him who both had raised an eyebrow at his little interruption.

"As I was saying," Leon continued, eyeing his son suspiciously, "despite your negative reaction to Cloud, he still insisted on visiting you every day. And the more I saw him, the stronger the warmth I felt would grow. I only became more and more confused, but I never wanted to see him leave. I always wanted him close to me every day. I wanted to always gaze into his blue eyes and always feel his soft hair between my fingers. That warmth grew to be utterly unbearable, and I finally gave in and…asked him to share the night with me. I remember everything from that night; the feel of his skin against mine, the taste of his lips, the sounds he –"

Sora, who was now vigorously blushing, cleared his throat and snapped his father from daydreaming about his first night with Cloud. Leon smiled sheepishly at his son and let out that uncomfortable cough he always does whenever he feels awkward.

"After…that night…I begged Cloud to remain by my side. He was the only one who made me feel that warmth, and I never wanted to return to that life before I found him again, where everything, other than you, was just so cold and meaningless. To my surprise, even though I selfishly pushed my feelings onto him, he agreed to stay with me. To this day I have never stopped thanking Rinoa for sending him to me. He saved me from a cold and lonely life. It took me a little while longer, but I gradually came to realize the warmth that I had felt whenever I was near him simply meant that I had fallen in love with Cloud."

Leon let out a long sigh and relaxed into the back of his chair as he finally concluded his story. Sora sat still as he absorbed everything his father had told him. He never knew just how lonely the man was when his mother passed away.

However, his father's story didn't really help Sora's current situation with Riku. Of course, Sora felt the same warmth in his chest that his father described whenever he was with Riku, but unlike Leon who was bold enough to ask Cloud to stay the night, Sora somewhat lacked that kind of courage. He wasn't really ready to go knock on Riku's door and ask to have sex with him.

Sora was hoping that his father knew a way to tell if the person you were interested in would accept you or not. He wanted to know exactly how you could tell if they love you too. He wanted to know if there was still a chance that Riku would actually love him as well.

Also, there was something off about Leon's story. Albeit interesting and inspiring, Sora still felt as though something was missing.

* * *

Also sorry to just cut it off there, but I felt that this chapter was getting just too long! Next chapter will be up in a few days.

Boy let me tell you! When I started this story, hell even this chapter, I had absolutely NO intention of including a Cloud/Leon backstory! Seriously! This chapter was about 3,000 words more than I first intended it to be and took a week longer to write.

I wanted to keep this story short and sweet…but…I couldn't resist! They needed to act as mentors to Sora! They needed to show him the happiness that can come out of a beautiful relationship!

Anyway, next chapter will conclude Cloud and Leon's story, and we'll see if Sora finally finds out what to do about his love for Riku!


	8. Chapter 8

One word: Finals. That is all.

* * *

When Sora looked up again, he could see an expressionless Cloud silently approach Leon from behind.

"You know, Leon, your story has a few missing holes in it," he said.

The sudden sound of his lover's voice caused the brown haired man to jump out of his chair and whirl around so fast that Sora thought the man would trip over himself and fall over.

"Cloud! When did you…how long have you…" For the second time that day, Leon was rendered speechless and flustered. Cloud simply placed his hand on the taller man's shoulder and guided him back down onto his chair. The blonde then maneuvered around the table to sit in the only available chair that was between Sora and Leon.

When Cloud placed his hands on the table, Leon, by force of habit, reached over to grab one of them. He stopped suddenly and threw a silent glance at his son, who smiled at him encouragingly and slightly nodded his head. Relieved, Leon placed his hand over his lover's.

"What do you mean I have a few missing holes?" Leon asked as he gave the hand a gentle squeeze. Cloud gave him a smile, leaned over, and placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Sorry to ask this, but could you go away for a bit? I just want to have a little talk with Sora," Cloud said.

"What? You want me to…Why? What are you planning?"

"Nothing at all." Cloud gave Leon his best innocent face. "I simply wish to have a nice little chat with the boy, if you don't mind."

"Fine," Leon grumbled as he got up off his chair. "But mark my words, I'll find out one way or another!" he proclaimed before pulling on a strand of blonde hair and then heading towards his workshop in the back, patting Sora on the head as he passed by him.

Cloud gave him a little wave before turning his attention back to Sora.

"Why did you just get rid of father?" Sora asked hesitantly.

"Sora, this is about Riku, isn't it?" Sora's face instantly reddened as his eyes popped out and his mouth dropped open.

"No! Of course not! Why would you…I mean…We're just friends and…"

"Sora, please!" he said, rolling his eyes at the boy. "I've caught you a number of times staring at that boy with a dreamy look on your face whenever his back is turned. I am also aware of your nighttime adventures in dreamland."

Sora was then worried that his body wasn't getting enough blood since it all just accumulated in his face. Cloud took one look at the brown haired boy and started laughing.

"Relax, kid! I'm happy for you! And I'm even happier that it's Riku since that boy would rather cut off his own hand than hurt you. So, have you told him yet?" Sora shook his head. "Have you at least tried to?" Sora started to shake his head before hesitantly stopping and then nodded.

"I asked what he thought of me, but he only said that I was his best friend and that he would be there for me when I found the right one." Cloud pressed his lips into a thin line as he thought.

"Why don't you just ask him out right? Not like 'What do you think of me?' but more like 'Do you love me?'" Sora looked down as he imagined how Riku would react to that.

"But I'm too afraid, Cloud," Sora said in a soft voice. "What would he do if he found out? He could be disgusted or annoyed or angry…I'm just too scared to tell him!"

Cloud reached over and gently patted the top of the boy's spikes like he used to do when he was little.

"You know, Sora, your father's story really did have a few missing holes in it," Cloud said, and Sora lifted his head to listen. "The truth is…I was…I fell in love with your father long before he fell in love with me."

"What?" Sora exclaimed only to be quickly shushed.

"Don't tell him! I would pretty much just shatter his pride," Cloud explained while he rolled his eyes. "You see, when we were assigned our first mission together, I thought he was some kind of robot or machine since his face never moved a single muscle. In fact, I was so mesmerized by that emotionless face that I failed to notice an enemy was lunging straight for me. Your father, who was actually paying attention unlike me, was able to shove me aside and take the man down. However, he ended up scarring his face in the process."

"I remember father telling me this when I was little," Sora said. "He told me how he was always proud of the scar because he got it while protecting a close friend. Father always said he'd rather have a scar on his face than his friend's blood on his hands."

"Unfortunately, that scar only reminds me of how he had to rescue me from my own incompetence," Cloud said with a chuckle. "What he did…it amazed me. I was surprised to say the least that someone so detached could act so selflessly. Later, I realized that under that cold façade was a warm and friendly man, and soon my eyes refused to trail away from that face."

Cloud leaned back with a heavy sigh as he tilted his head towards the ceiling.

"I fell in love with that man when we went on our first mission together. I was in love with him when he gradually showed me what was beneath that expressionless face. I was in love with him when we were partnered on several other missions. I was in love with him when we went on that one mission where he met Rinoa." Cloud looked very distant all of a sudden. After a few seconds, Cloud let out another heavy sigh as he shook his head and stared directly into Sora's eyes. "I was in love with him even as I watched him marry your mother."

Sora's blue eyes grew wide as he stared at the blonde haired man sitting next to him at the table.

"How…how…?" he stammered, unable to pick the right words.

"How was I able to bear it as I watched the one I was in love with declare his love for another?" When Sora nodded his head, Cloud gave him a small smile.

"Sora, trust me. I love you as if you were my own son, and I feel absolutely no malice towards your mother. On the contrary, I admired her for accomplishing something that I was too much of a coward to do. You see, I was too afraid to tell your father my feelings. I was too afraid that he would be disgusted or annoyed or angry and that it would ruin any relationship I had with him. So instead, I buried my feelings deep inside, sat back, and watched in silence as the man I loved left me and went to start a family of his own. I was alright for the first couple of years. I had quit the mercenary work but continued my job as an informant. After a while, I thought I had finally forgotten all about Leon."

The blonde ran a hand through his hair and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling again.

"After what happened to you, he came to me for help. I had not seen him for almost ten years, but as soon as I saw him that night, those feelings I thought I had gotten rid of…they just exploded in my heart. The love I felt for Leon was still fresh. And when he told me that his wife was dead and his little boy had almost been raped by a man, the very first thought that came into my head was 'I have another chance.'"

Cloud kept his eyes on the ceiling, refusing to look in Sora's direction out of shame.

"Sora, do you now see just how despicable and selfish I really am? I used the death of your own mother and your traumatizing incident as opportunities to steal your mother's place. All of that just so I could be the one Leon loved."

Cloud closed his eyes, unable to bear the look that was surely on Sora's face.

"This is what will happen to you if you don't find the courage to face the one you love. You'll either live with that regret, or you'll find yourself taking advantage of tragic mishaps. Either way will only lead you to more pain. At least by confessing now, you'll have the chance for a happy ending."

There was only the sound of a hammer knocking against wood that filled the air as both men sat there in silence.

"So Sora, what do you plan to do now?" Cloud asked.

With his eyes still closed, Cloud heard Sora's chair scratch against the floor. He knew the brown-haired boy now hated him or was at least angry at him. However, Cloud did not regret even a little for telling Sora the truth. He knew the day would come when he would no longer be welcomed in this warm house that sheltered the two people he loved more than anything. After all, he never really deserved this happiness. He simply stole it from someone else.

However, instead of hearing footsteps walking away from him, he suddenly felt two arms wrap around his neck from behind and felt soft hair press against his cheek as a head rested against his shoulder.

Eyes opening wide, he turned to see that Sora, who never allowed anyone other than Leon and Riku to touch him, was squeezing Cloud so hard he was near the point of strangling the man.

"Cloud," Sora mumbled into the other's shoulder. "I love you just as much as I love father! You've helped me grow up strong, and you've saved father from a life of depression. If you didn't care about us, then I would have never been able to leave my room and father would have never experienced the warmth he needs."

Cloud smiled sadly as he slowly and carefully placed a hand over one of Sora's arms.

"But Sora, I –"

"No!" Sora said firmly, tightening the hold he had on the other man even more. "My mother watches over me every day. She knew just how miserable father and I would be without someone here to take care of us. It's just like father said; mother sent you to us because we needed you. Mother knew that you were the only person who would love us just as much as she did. It's not because you just stepped into our lives at a convenient time. It's because we love you and need you just as much as you love and need us!"

The boy's arms finally loosened, and he pulled himself off the stunned blonde. Sora stared down at him with a big smile on his face.

"So stop thinking that you're here because you took advantage of me and father. You're here because we need you here. It's because of you that we're happy." As he talked, Sora walked over to where his satchel was hanging, picked it up, and placed it around his shoulder. "And it's also because of you that I know exactly what to do now with Riku. Thank you, Cloud, for your help. It was exactly what I needed."

Sora opened the front door and was about to leave, but he hesitated for a minute before turning around and heading towards the workshop.

"Father!" he called into the room where Leon was working. "Don't you think it's about time you finally asked Cloud to move in? You've wanted to ask him for years!"

With that said, Sora turned on his heel and ran straight past Cloud, through the front door, and towards the bakery, leaving behind a still stunned Cloud and a very confused Leon.

Sora burst into the bakery, nearly breaking the little bell that rang every time someone opened the door. Ansem and his current customer stared at the panting boy in the doorway, both with a confused look on their faces. Sora actually recognized the other man as the village's apothecary, Vexen. He was known for his experiments with plants that seemed to create healing medicines.

"Sora! Are you really so eager to see me? I'll be with you in just a moment." Ansem's sickeningly sweet voice suddenly became annoyed and angry when he turned back to his customer. "Took you long enough to get here! Do you know how difficult it was to locate these damn things? Not to mention I had to travel outside the village and scoop them out of the filthy water by hand!"

Sora's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock as the baker dropped a handful of those white flower buds onto the counter.

"Honestly Vexen, if you wanted these damn flowers for another one of your damn experiments, you should have gotten them your-damn-self!" Ansem yelled at the apothecary. Vexen gathered the flowers into his hand and placed them in his satchel.

"I'm too busy with my life's work! Not all of your old friends grew up picking flowers like Marluxia or kneading dough like yourself! Even Axel, who might I add has found himself a little lover, does the mind-numbing job of mixing gunpowder. My work requires a genius mind!"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard this speech a million times. You just know that I am never going back there again! It was too long of a walk, and I almost had to leave the bakery to that bumbling monkey in the back!"

"Well, thank you for your oh so hard labor! I shall take my leave now." With that said, Vexen turned away from the baker and headed for the door. "Out of the way, boy! I have experiments to run!" he barked as he left the bakery, leaving behind a still very shocked Sora.

"_If Ansem gathered those flowers only for Vexen, then the one who gives them to me has to be someone else. It's not Ansem!"_ Then a thought entered Sora's head that made his heart thump twice as hard. _"Riku…knew exactly where the bridge was."_

"Riku!" Sora called into the back room while trying to peer into the room through the door.

"He's not here," Ansem said from behind the boy. "He's off making a delivery for me. The useless monkey always takes too long. Always says he has to run a 'personal errand' or something. He probably won't be back until later."

Sora could feel the baker's eyes staring at his back and knew exactly what the man was about to say to him. And to be honest, instead of feeling afraid like usual, Sora felt…irritated.

"If you'd like, you can wait here until he comes back," Ansem offered in a low voice. "It could take a while, but we could take the time to enjoy each other's company." As he said this, he slowly reached his hand out to touch Sora.

Sora, who finally had enough of this man's approaches, grabbed his satchel and smacked the baker's hand away from him. Ansem pulled his hand back in complete shock.

"I'm very sorry," Sora said, "but could you please never touch me with your damn, annoying, grabby hands from now on? Thank you."

With that said, the once quiet and mild-mannered boy left the bakery and headed home.

Sora knew what he had to do now. He was going to stay awake tonight and catch whoever it was who leaves him the flowers. He needed to know. He needed to know for certain who it was. And tonight, he was going to find out.

* * *

So I'm really sorry for the really late update, but you know...college...finals...yeah...

But don't worry, the story will pick up from here on out...I hope...It's almost over, so just bear with it for a little while longer!

Anyway, looks like I got some of you! Nope! Ansem was not the admirer! But who could it be now? Hmmm? Who? Find out in the next installment of MOONLIGHT FLOWER! WOO!


	9. Chapter 9

Hello again lovelies! Isn't summer beautiful? My ass has never felt so lazy! But don't worry, I didn't forget about my two favorite boys! Shall we continue on and see if Sora finally meets his secret admirer?

* * *

Sora anxiously paced back and forth in front of his door. He kept opening it and peeking down the street every few minutes before closing the door and resuming his pacing. The sun had just set a while ago, and the night was cloudy. The moon's rays would rhythmically light up the street before quickly disappearing behind thick clouds rolling slowly across the night sky. Despite this, Sora was still determined to finally face his admirer.

"Sora, I don't know which is going to wear out first: the floor or your shoes," Cloud joked as he watched the boy from the kitchen continue his pacing.

"It's getting late. Why don't we call it a night?" Leon asked as he peered out the window.

"You two can head to bed now if you want to," Sora said with a wave of his hand. "I'm going to wait just a little while longer."

When Sora came home that evening, he revealed to the ex-mercenaries his plan to wait out the whole night and catch the admirer. Leon was alright with the plan up to the point when Sora revealed that he wanted to do it alone. With the help of Cloud, who fully supported the boy, Sora was able to convince his father that by doing this alone, he may be able to finally find the courage to abandon the past.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait with you? What if this admirer turns out to be a psycho who wants to cut all your hair off and use it to fluff up his pillow at night?" Sora's hands immediately went to the top of his head to form some kind of shield around his spiky hair.

"Come now, Leon," Cloud said with a chuckle as he poked his finger at the top of Leon's nose. "Sora's a smart kid. His sword is located right by the door within very easy reach, and if he senses any danger whatsoever, he'll call for us." The blonde raised his eyebrow and gave the boy a pointed stare. "Right, Sora?"

"Of course!" he immediately replied, nodding his head up and down. "I'm prepared for anything! Whatever happens, this will end tonight. No matter what!" Sora's determination and enthusiasm were enough to convince Cloud and slightly convince Leon that the boy was finally ready.

With an exchange of "goodnights," the two older men retired to their room, leaving the younger behind to resume his pacing.

The night seemed to drag on as Sora waited and waited for the mysterious gift-giver to make his grand appearance. Outside, the street seemed to glow as the moonlight was repeatedly masked and unmasked by the passing clouds. As he gazed at the door, Sora's head started to grow heavy as sleep began to creep up on him.

Before he could drift off, his ears picked up the very subtle yet distinct sound of the sole of a shoe gently hitting the hard gravel of the road outside Sora's house.

Sora heart quickened from both excitement and anxiety. Carefully, he crept up to the door and pushed his ear to the wood to listen to the footsteps as they gradually grew louder and louder.

Finally, the time came when the sound abruptly ended just in front of the door. Before giving himself the chance to think of anything else, Sora threw the door open with all his might and came face-to-face with his mysterious admirer.

At that moment, Mother Nature decided to blow these two a special kiss. The wind picked up, and the moon was quickly hidden behind the passing clouds, cutting off all sources of light and darkening the street.

Sora couldn't make out who it was. The man's face was hidden by the shadow of the absent moon.

Time seemed to stand completely still for just a few heartbeats as the two men silently stared at each other in shock. Then, before Sora could even blink, the man suddenly took off running down the street, leaving behind a very stunned and confused brunette.

"W-Wait!" Sora cried, quickly snapping out of his stupor and taking off after the stranger. The boy was determined to finally put this to rest, and with the truth finally within arm's reach after so many years, Sora was not willing to give up.

The stranger ran and ran, but no matter how fast he was or how long he ran, he could not escape the spiky haired boy chasing after him. Sora ignored everything around him; his eyes were narrowed only on the back of the retreating man. Pumping his legs faster and faster, a burst of energy coursed through every vein in his body.

With this added adrenaline, Sora made a desperate leap through the air, and his body collided into that of the fleeing man, knocking them both into the ground.

Ignoring the pain that shot through his arm, Sora crawled on top of the stranger who was desperately trying to get away and pinned him to the ground. No matter how much the man struggled, he could not shake off the stubborn brunette that now sat on top of him.

The man finally gave up and stopped struggling, and Sora simply stared at him gasping for breath all the while frantically trying to make out who the man pinned underneath him was.

"Who are you?" he cried, cursing the darkness that shielded the man's face. "Why have you been tormenting me for so many years? Why do you leave me those flowers? What do you want from me? What is your name? Who are you?!"

"You know my name," whispered a deep, familiar voice that caressed Sora's ear like a soft kiss. "Say it, Sora," the man commanded. "Say my name."

At that moment, the clouds that blocked the moon departed, and the moonlight was free to shine upon the two men collapsed on the street.

The first thing Sora noticed was how the moonlight reflected off the silver locks that escaped the confines of the hood the man wore, making them glow as they laid against the rough street.

The second thing Sora noticed was how there were small splotches of pure white flour upon the man's pale skin, most particularly on his nose and cheeks.

The third thing Sora noticed was the man's lips which reminded him of someone whose lips were always in the shape of a smile, always talking and laughing, and always forcing Sora's own lips to mirror that smile.

The last thing Sora noticed were the two breathtakingly beautiful blue-green eyes that were always filled with emotion and life, that would always shine whenever he talked, that Sora would always gaze into at every chance he was given.

Finally, in the moonlight, Sora came face-to-face with his secret admirer.

"Riku."


	10. Chapter 10

Well it's been a while! Summer's great, amirite? Anyway, I bet you're all eager to see what happens next between Sora and Riku, right? Enjoy!

* * *

"Riku," Sora whispered as he stared into his best friend's eyes. Riku quietly returned Sora's gaze, waiting for the other to make some kind of move.

After a few minutes of pure silence, Sora's fist made a sudden, hard connection to Riku's jaw. The force of the punch caused Riku's head to snap back against the ground. Eyes filled with shock, he looked up to Sora who was breathing very heavily as he struggled to control his tears.

"It was _you_?" he whispered harshly. "This whole time? The one who left the flowers? Every night for all these years? It was you?"

"Sora, could you please let me up?" Riku sighed since the position they were in was making him uncomfortable. Instead of doing as the man asked, Sora repined Riku's shoulders to the ground and refused to move.

"No!" he cried. "If I move, you'll try to run away again! I'm not letting you go!" Riku rested one of his hands on Sora's arm gently.

"I'm not going to run," he said softly, trying to calm the raging boy above him. "So please? Sora?" Calming down a little, Sora maneuvered himself so that Riku could finally sit up.

"It was really you?" Sora asked again. "Riku, are you really my secret admirer?" The man stared into his eyes for a few quiet seconds before he solemnly nodded his head.

"Yes. I am."

"Why did you never tell me?"

"Because I was afraid!" Riku shouted back angrily, which stunned the spikey haired boy. Riku then immediately lowered his eyes, regretting that he had just yelled at his best friend.

"Afraid? What could you possibly be afraid of? You're Riku! You're supposed to be fearless!" The silver haired man raised his head and stared directly into the innocently shining blue eyes that captured his heart all those years ago.

"You're wrong," he said, shaking his head. "I'm a coward! I'm a coward and a liar. All these years, I've been secretly betraying the fragile trust you've placed in me."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked. Riku placed a hand on his forehead, as if he was fighting against a headache.

"I have these dreams of you almost every night," he said, lowering his hand to cover his eyes. "I would see you laid out before me, like a freshly cooked dish is laid out before a king. I couldn't stop myself from devouring every inch of your exposed skin. The encouraging sounds you would let out of your mouth only made my body even hotter as I ravaged your neck and tasted your lips. I would pin you down and thrust into you deeply, drinking in the cries that spilled from your lips. Then, I would force you to scream my name as I took possession of you and made it so that no one else could ever touch you again."

Sora's face turned a very deep shade of red as Riku described his dream in almost perfect detail. His face only darkened when he realized that Riku has been having the same dreams as Sora's.

"R-Riku," Sora whispered, completely speechless. He reached his hand out towards his friend, but the silver haired man jerked away from it.

"Sora, don't you see?" Riku growled, his anger returning. "I'm no different from that bastard! All I can think about is having you all to myself! I want to hold you, dirty you, and make you completely mine! How is that any better than what _he_ did to you all those years ago? Actually," he added with a humorless laugh, "I'm worse than him because you trust me. You trust me completely, and all I can think about is destroying that trust!"

Sora couldn't hold back the look of shock on his face at Riku's words. However, when he saw how distraught his best friend was, the only thing Sora wanted to do was to hold him close and comfort him.

"But Riku, I –"

"Do you get it yet?" Riku continued, interrupting the brunette. "Do you now see just how much of a monster your so-called 'best friend' really is?" The silver-haired man suddenly stood up, nearly knocking a startled Sora over. Regaining his balance, Sora hesitantly stood up as well.

"What about the flowers? Why would you send me a flower that never blooms? Why would you give me something so horrible?" Sora had asked himself this question for so many years. "These white flowers never bloom. They were never given a chance to live. Why do they only wither and die?"

Riku suddenly looked very confused. He started shaking his head very quickly.

"Sora, that's not it! These flowers, they're call—" But it was Sora's turn to interrupt.

"Were you trying to tell me that I'm exactly like these flowers, Riku?" he asked in a dull voice, shifting his gaze to the ground. "That I'll never truly open up? That I'll wither and die alone without a chance to bloom? That I'll never have a chance to live?"

"Sora!" Riku's loud cry cut through Sora's words and left the boy silent. He looked up when he heard Riku pull something out of his pocket. Gently cupped in his large hands was another small and white flower that still had yet to bloom. He held the flower out towards the brunette.

"These flowers have always reminded me of you, but not in the way that you think."

At that moment, the clouds that once covered the moon were blown away, and the moon was once again free to bathe the street with its gentle rays.

When moonlight touched the small flower, it began to move on its own. Its petals began to slowly uncurl, and they opened up to reveal a beautiful flower with white and purple petals and a golden middle.

Riku took a step forward and reached for Sora's hand. Taking the younger man's hand, he carefully placed the now bloomed flower in the center of Sora's palm. Absolutely shocked and speechless, Sora instinctively lifted his hand to his face and allowed the flower's fragrance to enter his nose. The sweet smell made him smile.

The baker took the flower from him and with gentle albeit slightly shaky fingers, tucked it behind the boy's ear to let it rest among the brown spikes that surrounded it.

"For every night I saw you in my dreams, I would wake up before the sun could rise, pick one of these flowers from the stream, and then place it on your doorstep as an apology."

"But why this flower, Riku?"

"As I said before, to me, you are the same as this flower. You allow your true beauty to be sealed away, and the world only sees you as a plain, cold, unblossomed bud. But when you find your moonlight, your petals finally come undone, and you release the true beauty that is meant to be seen. The beauty you have on the inside far suppresses the cold shell that others blindly see and follow." As he said this, the man gentle traced the flower's petals with his finger.

"I was one of the privileged few to see the true beauty that lied within you, Sora. Not just your flawless skin, or your chocolate hair, or your blue eyes that reflect the sky and challenge the ocean. I got to hear your laugh almost every day as we walked together through the streets. I got to see your happily smiling face as you ate my bread. I got to hold you in my arms as you cried. Everything about you, Sora, is beautiful beyond words."

Before Riku could say any more, Sora grabbed the edge of the baker's shirt and crashed their lips together. They stood there in silence, lips firmly pressed against each other because both were still too afraid to go any farther.

Riku made the first move as he slowly moved his mouth against the boy's. Sora couldn't stop the moan that escaped as he felt the baker's arms wrap around his waist. He wrapped his own arms around Riku's neck, pressing himself even closer to the man, their lips melding together.

Sora jumped a little when he felt Riku's tongue gently slide across his lower lip, but he immediately opened his mouth, granting the older man entrance into the warm cavern. With only a little hesitation, Riku's tongue dove into Sora's mouth, searching, licking, and sucking everything he could find. Rather than fight for dominance, both of their tongues simply slid against each other as each man savored the taste of the other. Sora let out a loud moan as Riku sucked on his tongue, gently dragging his teeth against the delicate surface.

They finally separated after what felt like hours. Sora's face was much more flushed than the baker's. Panting heavily, both men gazed at each other in perfect silence.

"I don't understand," Riku whispered, breaking the silence. Sora smiled happily at him, which seemed to relax the man.

"Riku," Sora said as he gently pushed a few strands of silver hair out of the man's face. "On certain nights, you would visit me in my dreams. Throughout the night in my dream, I would feel your hand against my skin, taste your lips as they merged with mine, smell your hair as it fell on my face, and feel your heat as it entered into me." Sora really wished there was some way he could capture the look on Riku's face.

"Why…did you never tell me?" he asked in disbelief. Sora's eyes lowered to the ground.

"I thought that I was too dirty to love someone as perfect as you. I thought that I was soiling our friendship by having such thoughts about you."

"Why on Earth would you believe you're dirty and I'm perfect? If you ask me, it's the other way around!"

"Because of what that stranger said, all those years ago. He said that it was my fault that I was a dirty little whore who seduced men. For a very long time, I believed him. So for years, I kept my feelings a secret, afraid that if you found out, you would see that I really was dirty whore."

Riku looked angry for a second before Sora placed his hand over his cheek, calming his friend.

"I realize now that there was no reason for me to believe in that man's words. You see, the only reason I was able to laugh, to smile, to cry, was because I had someone by my side that gave me the chance to. I had you, Riku."

Almost as if in a trance, Riku couldn't stop himself from tilting his head down and capturing Sora's lips in another searing kiss that lasted even longer than the first. Sora broke their lips apart in order to fill his lungs with much needed air.

Riku took this opportunity to attack the boy's exposed neck while Sora instinctively turned his head to give the man better access to the delicious skin. Alternating between gentle and harsh, Riku's biting, licking, and sucking caused Sora to let out a string of moans. He buried his hands into soft, silver hair and used his long fingers to gently massage the scalp in an encouraging manner, making the older man practically purr with contentment.

Moving his head back up, the baker seized the brunette's lips in yet another heated kiss before reluctantly pulling away.

"Sora," Riku sighed as he gazed at the boy's kiss-stained lips and marred neck. Even in this state, Sora was still the most beautiful thing to his eyes. Riku pulled away from the boy, but not completely, and held his hand out for him to take.

"Do you want to see that stars reflecting upon the water?" Sora wondered how that was possible on such a cloudy night. However, he didn't hesitate for even one second to place his hand, and at the same time, all of his trust, into Riku.

* * *

Alright! One more chapter to go! Next chapter will have what everyone has probably been waiting for this whole story...SEX! I mean, love!


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